Summary:
Aidan
Chamber’s book Postcards from No Man’s
Land tells two different distinct yet interconnected narratives. One of the narratives follows an English
tourist named Jacob as he finds himself initially lost and depressed in
Amsterdam. He is visiting in place of
his ill grandmother at the request of a woman who helped out his grandfather
during Word War II. He is pick-pocketed,
mistakes a man for a woman, even visiting the one time home of his idle and
secret crush Anne Frank does little to cheer him up. The other narrative is set during World War
II and tells the story of a teen age girl named Geertui who takes in a wounded
English paratrooper who failed to push the germans out of Holland. The English solider, who also happens to be
named Jacob, starts to grow close to Geertui.
In
modern Amsterdam, Jacob’s luck starts to turn around when he finally meets up
with his friend Daan, who is the grandson of Geertui. The two of them visit museums and engage in a
few romantic relationships, and it is revealed the Geertui is dying from
cancer, and wants to tell Jacob about her time with his grandfather, the
previously mentioned Jacob from World War II.
Back
in the past we learn that Geertui and Jabo become romantically involved, and
devlop a physical relationship when his wounds are healed. He dies of a heart attack, however, but not
before it is revealed that Geertui is pregnant.
Daan’s grandfather agrees to marry Geertui as long as it is never
revealed that the child she carries is not his.
When
young Jacob meets with Geertui in the present, she reveals on her deathbed that
Daan’s mother is actually the daughter born from her and Jacob’s
relationship. In the end Jacob returns
home, but is unsure as to what he will tell his grandmother, but has learned a
lot about life and his family in the process.
Chambers, A.
(1999). Postcards from no man’s land. New
York, NY: Dutton Books.
My
Impressions:
An
interesting book that deals with one of my favorite time periods of World War
II. I initially thought there would be
more connections to Anne Frank and the Holocaust than there was when it was
revealed that Jacob had a crush/felt a connection to her. Even so it tells and interesting tale and
even though I was able to put together what was going on quite early in the
book, I don’t feel the story suffered because of it.
Reviews:
“ Since Jacob's grandmother, Sarah, is too ill to
make a trip to Holland to meet long-ago wartime acquaintances of her late
husband, Jacob is sent in her place to attend a ceremony at his grandfather's
grave in Arnhem, honoring him and other fallen soldiers from World War II. When
he arrives in Amsterdam, Jacob is hosted by young Daan, who is also the
grandson of Geertrui, the woman who nursed Jacob's grandfather in the war. In
fact, this relationship turns out to have been more intimate; Jacob's
grandfather had an affair with Geertrui, and Jacob and Daan are half-cousins.
Throughout most of the book, two narrative threads run concurrently: one tells
the story of Jacob's present-day trip while the other tells the story of
Geertrui's survival of the war and devoted tending of Jacob's grandfather.
Interspersed among the chapters of Geertrui's story are excerpts from real war
journals (a note in the acknowledgments credits the authors) that tell more
about the grisly battle of Arnhem in which Jacob's grandfather was mortally
wounded. Chambers' writing is complex and intense, with equal attention and
detail given to characters in both time frames. Both Jacob and Geertrui reach
milestones of maturity in their respective stories, and they experience
parallel (albeit very different) sexual awakenings: Geertrui in her love for a
wounded soldier (Jacob's grandfather), and Jacob in his attraction to two young
people, a girl in Arnhem and a boy in Amsterdam. Chambers creates a heady flood
of sensory and emotional detail while keeping tight reins on several powerful
plots and subplots, crafting an unusually compelling and balanced portrayal of
two young people coming of age. Fans of Anne Frank's diary will be particularly
drawn to this volume, both because of Jacob's own fascination with Anne Frank
and because of its similarly unflinching honesty in depicting both life during
war and the process of growing up.”
McDowell, K. (2002). [Review of the book Postcards from no man’s land by A.
Chambers] . Bulletin Of The Center For Children's Books, 56(1),
9-10.
Usage in a
Library Setting:
With the
strong theme of family history in this book, maybe it could be used as part of
a Genealogy program to get users interested in what the library has to offer in
the way of researching Genealogy and family history. This book could be discussed and showcased as
a possible example of what people may find out if they did look into their own
family histories.
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